Article sorting device



Jan. 6, 1959 LAPE ARTICLE SORTING DEVICE Filed A ril's, 1955 2 5 6 y M W5 nes" TO COMP/755350 AIR SUPPL V A r ron/vsr nit 2,867,312 PatentedJan. 6, 1959 ARTICLE SORTING DEVICE Jean E. Lape, Coopershurg, Pa.,assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application April 8, 1955, Serial No. 500,114 7Claims. (Cl. 193-43) This invention relates to a sorting device and itis the general object of the invention to provide apparatus for removingimproperly oriented non-symmetrical articles from a feed track.

In accordance with the general features of the invention,non-symmetrical articles feeding down a track pass a plurality ofphotoelectric cells which control means for removing all articles fromthe track that are being fed wrong end first, the cells being so spacedwithrespect to the track that only those articles having a particularend first black out all the cells simultaneously.

According to an importantfeature of the invention the photoelectriccells control the operation of an air valve for producing a jet of airwhich supports or floats properly oriented articles through a cut-outportion of the track from which improperly oriented articles aredropped.

These and other features of the invention will be more fully understoodfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view partially in section of a feed trackmodified in accordance with the invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 show correct and improperly oriented articles respectivelywith respect to the apertures in the track for the photoelectric cells;

Figs. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional views of thetrack taken along theplanes of lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively, of

Fig. l; i

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the control circuit for the apparatus;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a portion of the track showingalternate means for removing articles therefrom, and

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the track taken along the plane ofline 8-8 of Fig. 7.

As seen in the drawing, two downwardly inclined members 8 and 9 of afeed track 7 are provided. withopposed grooves 10 and 11 respectively,for supporting non-symmetrical articles 12. The articles 12 in this caseare reed elements for Western Electric Company type 224A Dry ReedSwitches and have flat end portions 14 and 15 interconnected by a smalldiameter cylindrical portion 16, the end 14 being approximately one anda half times as long as the end 15. Three photoelectric cells 17, 18'and19, which in this case are phototransistors, are mounted on the bottomside of the track, three light sources 20, 21 and22 for the cells beingprovided in a housing 23 on the upper side of the feed track. Arcuategrooves 46, 47 and 48 are provided in the opposing walls of the trackmembers for the light beams for the phototransistors so that the lightbeams may be as wide as the fiat portions of the articles 12. Then whena properly oriented article 12 is momentarily located directly beneaththe lamps (Fig. 2) the light beams 50 and 51 of lamps 20 and 21 will beblocked by the end 14 of the article and the light beam 52 of lamp 22will be blocked by the end 15. On the other hand, when an improperlyoriented article passes beneath the lamps, simultaneous blackout of allthree light beams is not possiblesince the narrow portion 16 of thearticle 12 cannot completely block the beams. This is illustrated inFig. 3 where light beam 51 is not effectively blocked by the narrowportion 16 of an improperly oriented article 12. The housing 23 for thelamps and a cover for the phototransistors protect the phototransistorsfrom stray light which could possibly cause false operation. Circuitconnections for the phototransistors are provided through a cable 49 andpower for the lamps is provided through cable 37.

In the feed track below the phototransistors a section of one supportingflange for the groove 10 in member 8 is removed (Fig. 5) to allowarticles to drop out of the groove into a receptacle 41 through a rejecttube 24. An air tube 25 which is connected to a source of compressed airthrough a solenoid operated valve 26 is provided with a nozzle 38attached between and on the underside of the track members 8 and 9 fordirecting a jet of air to the underside of articles passing down thefeed track through the cut-out portion. This air jet supports thearticles against the upper sides of the grooves 10 and 11 until theypass over the cut-out portion.

The control circuit shown in Fig. 6 is designed to hold the air valve 26normally closed so that articles feeding down the track will fall outinto the reject tube 24 unless the articles are properly oriented (thatis with the end 14 being fed down first) when the valve 26 will beoperated to produce the jet of air for holding the reed against theupper side of the track until it passes over the cut-out portion. Morespecifically, the three phototransistors 17, 18 and 19 are connected inparallel in the energizing circuit for a relay 27 which controls theoperation of the solenoid valve'26. Movable contact arms 28 and 29 ofthe relay are connected together to one side of a 60 microfaradcondenser 30 which is serially connected through a variable resistance36 of 0 to 20,000 ohms to the one side of the winding of relay 27. Theback contact 31 of the arm 28 is connected to the other side of therelay27 winding which is also connected to one side of the solenoid valve 26.Back contact 32 of the arm 29 is connected through an energizing source33 to the other side of the solenoid valve 26. The operated contact 34for the arm 28 is connected through a resistance 35 of 500 ohms to theresistance 36. V p

Under normal conditions, the relay 27 will be operated since the lightbeams for transistor 17, 18 or 19 will be unblocked, the lamps 20, 21and 22 being energized by conventional means whenever the apparatus isin use. When an article passes through. the feed track with an improperorientation, that is the end 15 first, no more than two of thephototransistor light beams will be completely blocked at any singleinstant (Fig. 3) so that the remaining energized phototransistor willpermit suflicient current flow to keep the relay operated.

When a correctly oriented article passes down the feed track, however,at one instant (of approximately 0.010 second) all three phototransistorlight beams will be blocked simultaneously (as seen in Fig. 2) and theenergizing circuit for the relay 27 will be opened. Relay I through thetrack against the v upper side of the track until it passes the cut-outportion. Simultaneously with the operation of the relay, the condenser30 is connected in parallel with the relay energizing coil through theback contact 31. As the article continues down the track light isrestored and the relay circuit is again closed; however, condenser 30must first be charged before the relay will operate thereby giving thenecessary time delay to permit the properly oriented article to passover the cut-out portion of the track before the air stream is again cutoff when the relay operates. The resistor 36 may be adjusted between 0and 20,000 ohms so that this time delay may be adjusted between 0 and 1second as required. The resistor 35 provides a discharge path for thecondenser 30 when the relay is operated.

An alternate article drop-out mechanism is shown in Figs. 7 and 8. Inthis embodiment, the lower portions of the track members 8 and 9 abovethe reject tube 24 are removed and a member 40, hinged to the trackmembers, provides a removable support surface for the bottom of theguide grooves 10 and 11. A solenoid 41, mounted to a fixed support 44,is used for opening (to the position shown in dashed lines) or closingthe track as required. The control circuit of Fig. '6. may also be usedwith this drop-out mechanism, the solenoid 41 simply being substitutedfor the solenoid air valve 26.

It;is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simplyillustrative of the application of the principles of the invention.Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled inthe art which will embody the principles of the invention and fallWithin the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. Sorting apparatus for removing from a feed track improperly orientedelongated articles having end portions of different lengthsinterconnected by a relativeiy narrow portion, the feed track having apassage therethrough for guiding the articles, said sorting apparatuscomprising a plurality of photoelectric cells, means for producing anddirecting a beam of light across the passage in the track to each of thecells, the beams being substantially wider than the narrow portion ofthe'article, said photoelectric cells being positioned with respect tothe track so that only articles of a prescribed orientation passingthrough the track will cause the simultaneous blackout of all the cellsand means responsive to the simultaneous condition of the cells forremoving improperly oriented articles from the track.

2. Sorting apparatus for removing from a feed track improperly orientedelongated articles having end portions of different lengthsinterconnectedby a relatively narrow portion, the feed track having apassage therethrough for guiding the articles, said sorting apparatuscomprising three phototransistors, a source of light for each of thephototransistors' beamed across the passage in the track, saidphototransistors being positioned with respect to the track so that theend portions of only properly' oriented articles will simultaneouslyblack out all three phototransistors, and means responsive to thesimultaneous condition of the phototransistors for removing improperlyoriented articles from the track.

3. Apparatus for feeding non-symmetrically. shaped articles in aparticular orientation comprising a down.- wardly inclined feed trackhaving a passage therethrough for guiding the articles, a portion of thefeed track being cut out to permit articles to be removed therefrom, aplurality of photoelectric cells, a source of light for each of thecells beamed across the passage in the track above the cut-out portion,said photoelectric cells being positioned with respect to the track sothat only articles of a prescribed orientation passing through the trackwill cause the simultaneous blackout of all the cells and meanscontrolled by the photoelectric cells for selectively producing an airstream to support articles passing through the cut-out portion to remainin the passage.

4. Apparatus for feeding in prescribed orientation nonsymmetricallyshaped elongated articles having fiat end portions of difierent lengthsinterconnected by a relatively narrow portion, comprising a feed trackhaving two downwardly inclined members, opposing surfaces of the membersbeing provided with U-shaped grooves for supporting the edges of thearticles, one of the track members having a cut out portion to permitarticles to drop out of the track, a plurality of photoelectric cells, asource of light for each of the cells beamed across the passage in thetrack above the cut-out portion, said photoelectric cells beingpositioned with respect to the .track so that only articles of aprescribed orientation passing through the track will cause thesimultaneous blackout of all the cells and means controlled by thephotoelectric cells of photoelectric cells, a source of light for eachof the cells beamed across the passage in the track above the cut-outportion, said photo-electric cells being positioned with respect to thetrack so that only articles of a prescribed orientation passing throughthe track will cause the simultaneous blackout of all the cells, meansfor producing an air stream to support articles passing through thecut-out portion to remain in the passage, a relay for controlling theair stream producing means and means including the photoelectric cellsfor operating the relay.

6. Apparatus for feeding non-symmetrically shaped articles in aparticular orientation comprising a downwardly inclined feed trackhaving a passage therethrough .for guiding the articles, a portion ofthe feed track being cut out to permit articles to be removed therefrom,a plurality of photoelectric cells for testing the orientation ofarticles passing through the feed track, a source of light foreach ofthe cells beamed across the passage in the track above the cut-outportion, said photoelectric cells being positioned with respect to thetrack so that only articles of a prescribed orientation passing throughthe track willcause the simultaneous blackout of all the cells,

means for producing an air stream to support articles passing throughthe cut-out portion to remain in the pas- V sage, a relay forcontrolling the air stream producing means, means including thephotoelectric cells for operating the relay and means for introducing atime delay in the re-operation of the relay to permit a tested articleto pass through the cut-out portion of the track.

7. Apparatus for detecting a particular orientation of non-symmetricallyshaped articles being fed through a feed track, said articles having endportions of different lengths interconnected by a relatively narrowportion, comprising three photoelectric cells, means for producing anddirecting a beam of light across the track to each of the cells, saidcells being positioned with respect to the tracks so that the endportions of only properly oriented articles will simultaneously blackoutall three cells and detecting means responsive to the simultaneouscondition of the cells.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,033,645 Parkhill Mar. 10, 1936

